I’m not going to tempt fate by tallying all the numbers, but our new buy recommendations have performed exceptionally well this year.

Suburban Propane (NYSE: SPH), Enviva Partners (NYSE: EVA), CONE Midstream Partners (NYSE: CNNX), Macquarie Infrastructure (NYSE: MIC) and Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ARLP) have all paid off handsomely, and quickly. Macquarie’s 16% return in three months has been the least impressive among these overachievers.

Some of it was the result of the widespread wintertime discounting of MLPs and some specific to the cyclical lows in particular sectors (coal, propane.) But, helpful as those dislocations were, let’s also acknowledge that several of those picks have very attractive growth prospects.

It was those prospects that landed CNNX and EVA on our new Best Buys list, alongside one of this month’s New Buys recommendations.

I’m very hopeful that the Enbridge affiliates will keep our streak of good fortune alive, and reasonably confident Williams Partners won’t endanger it. It’s hard to go terribly wrong buying into a 9% yield with solid fundamentals.

Those fundamentals continue to improve across the midstream sector, as can be seen in the Portfolio Update. It features news and analysis from the recent earnings season for the overwhelming majority of our recommendations. Many warranted higher buy limits, though we’ve also taken the opportunity to cut some stragglers and to recommend partial sales in a couple of cases.

Though no one should expect MLPs to indefinitely sustain the springtime rally’s pace, it would be similarly unwise to assume that they’ve topped out. The shale basins many of our picks are focused on continue to deliver resilient volumes of oil and gas despite energy prices that only recently were deemed to pose an existential threat.

In the short term, that resilience could prolong oversupply and delay higher energy prices. But as the cancellations of the costly offshore drilling projects pile up, the longer-term effect will be to shift more of the global output from deep water to North American rocks.

That leaves the domestic midstream processors in an enviable spot between some of the world’s lowest-cost producers and the rock-steady energy demand generated by the world’s largest and most dynamic economy. The resulting stream of tax-advantaged profits isn’t quite the bargain it was six months ago. And for most of us, that’s a welcome relief.

Portfolio Update

• Alliance Holdings (NASDAQ: AHGP) buy limit increased to $27 in Aggressive Portfolio
• Alliance Resource Partners (NASDAQ: ARLP) buy limit increased to $22 in Aggressive Portfolio
• Archrock (NYSE: AROC) downgraded to Hold in Aggressive Portfolio
• Archrock Partners (NASDAQ: APLP) buy limit increased to $17 in Growth Portfolio
• Blackstone Group (NYSE: BX) buy limit increased to $34 in Growth Portfolio
• Buckeye Partners (NYSE: BPL) upgraded to a Buy below $80 in Growth Portfolio
• Cedar Fair (NYSE: FUN) upgraded to a Buy below $65 in Growth Portfolio
• CONE Midstream Partners (NYSE: CNNX) buy limit increased to $24 in Growth Portfolio
• Enbridge Energy Partners (NYSE: EEP) added to Growth Portfolio below $30. See New Buys
• Enbridge Equity Management (NYSE: EEQ) added to Growth Portfolio below $29. See New Buys
• Energy Transfer Equity (NYSE: ETE) buy limit increased to $22 in Growth Portfolio
• Enviva Partners (NYSE: EVA) buy limit increased to $29 in Aggressive Portfolio
• EQT GP Holdings (NYSE: EQGP) upgraded to a Buy below $30 in Aggressive Portfolio
• EQT Midstream Partners (NYSE: EQM) buy limit increased to $90 in Conservative Portfolio
• Fortress Investment Group (NYSE: FIG) downgraded to Sell in Aggressive Portfolio
• Genesis Energy (NYSE: GEL) downgraded to Sell Half in Growth Portfolio
• Macquarie Infrastructure (NYSE: MIC) buy limit increased to $88 in Growth Portfolio
• New Residential Investment (NYSE: NRZ) downgraded to Sell in Aggressive Portfolio
• TerraForm Power (NASDAQ: TERP) buy limit increased to $15 in Aggressive Portfolio
• Williams (NYSE: WMB) downgraded to Sell Half in Aggressive Portfolio
• Williams Partners (NYSE: WPZ) added to Growth Portfolio. Buy below $42. See New Buys